title: Tungsten and other heavy metal contamination in aquatic environments receiving wastewater from semiconductor manufacturing.
abstract: Through analyses of water and sediments, we investigate tungsten and 14 other heavy metals in a stream receiving treated effluents from a semiconductor manufacturer-clustered science park in Taiwan. Treated effluents account for ∼ 50% of total annual river discharge and <1% of total sediment discharge. Dissolved tungsten concentrations in the effluents abnormally reach 400 μg/L, as compared to the world river average concentration of <0.1 μg/L. Particulate tungsten concentrations are up to 300 μg/g in suspended and deposited sediments, and the corresponding enrichment factors are three orders of magnitude higher than average crust composition. Surprisingly, the estimated amount of tungsten exported to the adjacent ocean is 23.5 t/yr, which can approximate the amount from the Yangtze River should it be unpolluted. This study highlights the urgency of investigating the biological effect of such contamination.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Chieh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Hwey-Lian
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Chang-Po
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chun-Mao
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Shou-Chung
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chou-Hao
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yi-Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Vasily
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Radashevsky
authors.forename: Shuen-Hsin
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D007220:Industrial Waste; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D045483:Rivers; D012666:Semiconductors; D013624:Taiwan; D014414:Tungsten / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014414:Tungsten